Moravian tops Depauw at NCAA regionals

Sprint Showdown

Brian Lawdermilk, Getty Images

Brian Lawdermilk, Getty Images

Call staff reports

GREENCASTLE, Ind. — The No. 17 ranked Moravian College softball team opened the 2015 NCAA Super Regionals with a come-from-behind and walk off win, defeating host DePauw University, 6-5, after eight innings in the first contest of a best-of-three series on Friday afternoon.

"It's a good way to start out. You want that first game to have the momentum going in to tomorrow," coach John Byrne said. "I would have liked to see us break out a little earlier in the game, but we left 11 or 12 people on base and threatened every inning so that was disappointing throughout the game. We had one bad inning where we blew up a little bit in the field but we certainly showed resilience to come back and tie it up."

Even though DePauw is the host for the Super Regional, the GreyMoravian, now 38-6 on the season, are the higher seeded team and considered the home squad this afternoon. The Tigers will be the home team in game two while a coin flip will determine the home team if game three is needed in the series. Moravian's 38 victories are the second most in school history, just two behind the 2004 NCAA Division III runner-up squad.

Sophomore second basemen Madison Newhouser went 2-for-3 with four RBIs while junior right fielder Mary Schlosbon was 3-for-4 on the day as Moravian had nine total hits in the victory.

Starting the bats for the GreyMoravian in the first inning was Schlosbon, who singled to left field. Senior center fielder Dior George reached first after being hit by a pitch to bring up sophomore left fielder Julie Siragusa , who ended up being safe at first on an error. However Moravian would leave the three on base at the end of the inning.

Moravian scored in the bottom of the third inning, again with Schlosbon singling down the left field line to start the inning. George layed down a sacrifice bunt but a throwing error put her on base and Schlosbon at third. George would later steal second to move into a tie for second in school history with 47 career stolen bases. With two outs, Newhouser singled to center field driving in both runs to take the lead, 2-0.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Tigers fought back capitalizing on a pair of Moravian errors to scoring four unearned runs.

Moravian tied it in the seventh when Newhouser was walked with one out and Deutsch singled through the right side to put the tying run on base. With two outs, Matos doubled to right center to tie the game as Deutsch beat the throw to the plate and forced extra innings.

DePauw wasted no time retaking the lead with a solo home run by the first batter in the top of the eighth. Moravian went three up, three down from that point to see what they could do offensively.

George singled to third base on the first pitch in the home half of the inning to put the tying run on base. Siragusa walked to cause a pitching change for senior designated player Lizzie Mack who also walked to load the bases. Newhouser doubled to left field on a 0-1 count scoring both runs winning the game, 6-5.

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Freshman pitcher Josie Novak earned her 19th win of the season to move into a tie for sixth in single-season victories.

Moravian and the Tigers return to action today at 10 a.m. at DePauw University with a if necessary game at 12:30 p.m. to see who will move forward to the NCAA Division III World Series in Salem, Virginia, on May 21.

Mountain Hawks edged by Texas A&M 2-1 in Norman Regional opener: In Norman, Oklahoma the Lehigh softball team fell 2-1 to Texas A&M Friday in the opening game of the Norman Regional at OU Softball Complex. The Mountain Hawks raced to a 1-0 lead only to see the Aggies rally with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

Aggie catcher Ashley Walters delivered the go-ahead RBI with a two-out fifth inning single. The Mountain Hawks put the tying runs on base in both the sixth and seventh innings but could not push the run across.

The loss drops Lehigh to 39-8 on the season. The Mountain Hawks will now play the loser of Oklahoma and Central Arkansas in an elimination game today .

"We played very, very well and Texas A&M played very, very well," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said.

Senior pitcher Emily Bausher took the loss allowing two runs.

Texas A&M (39-18) threatened in the bottom of the first but Bausher got Walters to ground into a double play to end the threat.

Aggie starter Rachel Fox retired the first eight Mountain Hawks she faced before walking junior MacKenzie Velasquez with two outs in the third.

Lehigh's first hit came off the bat of junior Alexis Watanabe leading off the fourth. Fox then hit junior Morgan Decker with a pitch and after a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Vicky Lattanzio, Lehigh had runners on second and third. Junior Jessica Calvini followed with a fly ball to right, and Watanabe slid around the tag to score on the sacrifice fly giving the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 lead.

Texas A&M pulled even in the bottom of the fourth on a Kristien Cuyos home run to right field. Aggie left fielder Brittany Clopton opened the bottom of the fifth with a bunt single and Tori Vidales followed with a sharp single to left. After a sacrifice bunt and a fielder's choice where senior Emma Capetz threw Clopton out at the plate, Walters dumped a single into right field to give the Aggies a 2-1 lead and the eventual victory.

Lehigh will play either Oklahoma or Central Arkansas in an elimination game today.

Moravian moves on to PIAA Class 2A Semifinals in boys team tennis: Zach Shaff picked up a win in first singles and the doubles teams both won their matches to propel Moravian Academy past District One champions Holy Ghost 3-2 in quarterfinal action Friday at Hershey Racquet Club. The Lions will play District 7 Champion Sewickley Academy in the semifinals 1:30 today at the Hershey Racquet Club. Should they make it to the finals they will play again at 5:30 p.m.